“It’s you?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“But you’re . . . “ Even knowing she was a robot—something I still couldn’t believe, because she looked absolutely human—I couldn’t say it.
She completed my thought. “Not pretty?”
I nodded.
“Would you like me to be?”
I blinked. I had no idea what to say to her.
“If you select Appearance, you can adjust how I look.”
I found my voice. “You can do that?”
“Yes. It’s a new feature of the eGirl5 that hasn’t been announced. The product announcement will be at halftime. The eBoy5 has already been found.”
I still couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. I reached over slowly and poked her arm. She let me. It felt human at first, though as I stroked her skin, I could just barely sense something that was just ever so slightly off. But had I not known, I doubt I would ever have noticed it.
I looked back at my phone. I tapped Appearance. That brought up another list of options: Face | Age | Eyes | Hair | Height | Weight | Athleticism | Bust | Waist | Buttocks | Legs | Feet
I blinked at it a few times, then tapped Face. That brought up a sliding scale that was numbered from 1 to 100. The slider was currently at 35. Well, that seemed to fit.
I finally looked up and glanced around us. No one else, even the women to my left, seemed to have noticed what had happened. I tapped the slider and moved it up to 60.
As I watched in amazement, the girl’s face shifted subtly. Her nose shrank and became more evenly proportioned. Her chin moved out a bit, and her cheekbones became more prominent. She wasn't exactly pretty yet, but she had gone from homely to generally good looking in a matter of moments.
I moved the slider up to 70. Her features became more even and proportional, and her cheekbones came out a bit more. Now you would definitely call her pretty. It was the same girl who’d been sitting next to me this entire time, yet it wasn’t.
“How?” I gasped.
“My skin is an electrically activated silicone composite. That’s all I can tell you. The rest is a trade secret.”
I looked back at my phone and backed up to Appearance. I stared briefly at Bust before stopping myself. I wasn’t ready to go there. Instead I selected Eyes. A color palette came up. Playing with it for a minute, I selected a deep teal blue.
When I looked over at the girl, her eyes—which had been an unremarkable brown—were now the exact color I had just selected.
Up until that moment, I hadn’t completely been convinced. Maybe I hadn’t looked closely enough at the girl before this, maybe she hadn’t really been as homely as I had thought. But there was just no way she could have changed her eye color that fast, right to the exact shade I’d picked.
Holy shit, I thought to myself. What the hell was I supposed to do with her? Cole and Kevin were going to freak over this. And Alisa—what was she going to think when I brought this thing home?
I sat there for about a minute in a complete daze. The eGirl sat there quietly beside me. For all the rest of the stadium knew, nothing had changed.
I finally pulled myself together a bit.
“So, um, what’s your name?” I asked her.
“What would you like it to be?”
Shit. Of course I would get to name her. I tried to think of something. The first name that came to mind was—
“Selena?”
“Thank you. I like that.”
I looked down at my phone. A number across the top of the settings screen, which I hadn’t paid any attention to, changed to Selena.
The eGirl stood up.
“Would you come with me, please?”
“Where?”
“The sponsor’s box. The license agreement, which you didn’t read, included provisions about cooperating with the halftime marketing sequence, as well as other things. We have to go up there now.”
♦ ♦
I followed Selena out of our section. She led me up a couple of escalators. When we got to the VIP level, the stadium security officials that usually checked tickets to make sure you belonged up there were standing with two guys in Vertex golf shirts. As soon as they saw the two of us, they waved us over.
“This way, sir,” one of them said.
I followed them about a third of the way around the stadium before we reached a box suite section with a big Vertex logo. More Vertex people were waiting for us, including a pretty woman with a tablet in her hands. She motioned me to follow her.
The box suite was a big room about fifty feet long looking out over the field, with two rows of seats in front of the window. Inside, several more people intercepted us.
Selena touched my arm. “I need to go change. I’ll be right back.”
The woman with the tablet extended her hand, which I shook. “Mr. Dawson, I’m Christina Murphy. I’m a communications manager with Vertex. We’re going to put on a promotional video about the eGirl and eBoy5 shortly, then we’ll be running a video of you finding Selena. Then we’re going to introduce you and the man who found the eBoy. Does that sound all right?”
“Um, I guess so.”
“After the promotional segment, you’re welcome to stay in the sponsor’s box for the remainder of the game, though we would like to record a brief interview with you.”
“Okay. I’m still a little in shock here.”
She smiled. “I understand. The eGirl5 is an amazing product. It’s going to take some time to get used to her. We’re all extremely excited about it.”
“She’s really a robot?” I felt stupid saying this, but I couldn’t help myself.
“We’re using the term artificial person at Vertex now. We don’t feel that robot is a true reflection of what they are.”
I nodded. Out on the field, I could see the first half ending. Someone came up and told Christina we needed to get ready. She led me out to the balcony in front of the box, where I was positioned next to a younger man with red hair.
“Did you win the eGirl?” he asked.
“Yeah. You got the other one?”
“Uh-huh. Pretty fucking amazing.”
I could only shake my head. I still couldn’t believe this.
I felt someone take my arm. I looked to my left and found a tall, drop-dead gorgeous brunette in a tank dress beside me. Her big breasts were almost falling out of the top. I was about to say something when I noticed her eyes: the same teal blue I’d given Selena.
She smiled.
“It’s me. This is what I look like when you max everything out.”
I could only gape at her. It wasn’t just that she was stunningly hot, she was also four or five inches taller than I’d left her a minute or two ago.
“You’re taller.”
“I can change that too. You didn’t see the setting?”
I had, but . . . Jesus.
I looked over and saw a strikingly handsome young man with chiseled features standing with the guy I’d just talked to. Obviously the eBoy.
I pulled out my phone and opened the Vertex app. I went into Appearance>Face. As I expected, it was now set to 100. I backed out to Bust, which was at 36D. Checking the other settings, I could see what the Vertex people had done to her. They’d taken the unremarkable girl I’d met a few minutes ago and turned her into a lingerie supermodel.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
I swallowed roughly. “It’s a bit much.”
She smiled. “After the promotion is over, you can do what you want with me. I’ll be ugly again if you like that better.”
The NFL officiating system blew the whistle for the first half. As the players left the field, the Vertex video started up on the big screen over the field. After some music and stock footage, they began the introduction.
“For ten years, Vertex has redefined robotics,” the voiceover said. “Lifelike . . . versatile . . . inspiring.” The video shifted to a scene of a group of beautiful men and women walking across
a beach toward the camera. “And now, Vertex brings you the biggest advance in robotics ever seen . . . the eGirl and eBoy5.”
The men and women on the beach walked right up to the camera and smiled.
Then the video stopped, cutting to what I instantly realized was a recording of me, when I’d found Selena. They’d been watching the entire time, taping it.
I stood there seeing the entire thing again, from a distance. And when Selena explained about her appearance, and I began changing it, the crowd gasped in unison, then began cheering. They repeated the same sequence with the eBoy and the guy who had found him. By the end, the stadium was roaring.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice began, “we give you the winners of the Vertex eGirl and eBoy5 giveaway.”
On the screen, I saw myself, standing with the rest of them on the balcony. Selena leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. The camera zoomed in on her, then split to show the scene where I’d found her, emphasizing how much she’d changed. They then did the same thing with the eBoy.
As the crown continued cheering, the video began again, spinning through more stock footage of the other eGirls and eBoys.
“The eGirl and eBoy5 . . . full appearance control . . . true artificial intelligence . . . a quantum leap in robotics . . . available today.”
The music surged to a crescendo, the crowd gave one final cheer, and it was over.
3.
Christina reappeared at my side.
“We’d like to do the interview in about ten minutes. Does that sound okay?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Selena led me back into the suite, and we sat down at a table along one wall. I kept staring at her, thinking that this new look was never going to work.
“Can I take you back down a little?”
“You can do whatever you want to me now.”
I opened the app and went into Appearance. I moved the Face slider back to 85. When I looked up, she was still very pretty, but no longer so intimidating.
“This slider thing strikes me as awfully subjective,” I asked. “How exactly did Vertex calibrate it?”
“It is subjective to some extent, yes. The scale is based on a broad survey of facial preferences. Essentially, the 100 setting is the point at which the largest number of people would find me the most attractive. Obviously, other people would have different preferences. Don’t feel tied to the slider. You’re surely going to find certain combinations more attractive than others, regardless of what the slider may be set at.”
That made some sense. I took her breasts down to a C-cup, and she was no longer falling out of her dress. But she still looked about 20, which was far younger than I was comfortable with.
“How does the Age setting work?”
“Try it.”
I opened it up. The slider in this one went from 18 to 45. It was currently at 21. I slowly slid her up to 35. Her face changed subtly as I did it, becoming more mature, fine lines appearing around her eyes and mouth, skin no longer quite so tight and smooth. But she was still pretty, and bringing her much closer to my age suddenly made her a lot more attractive.
“Do you like this better?” she asked.
“Yes.”
I looked through the other settings. Her height I was actually fine with now; she had been too short for my taste before. I looked through the rest of it, but wasn’t sure what to change, so left it alone.
“So, um, now what?” I asked.
“You can select my skills packages now, if you want. The prize includes 50,000 download credits for that.”
I went into the Skills section of the app. There were so many options I didn’t even know where to begin.
“You should understand that the app isn’t strictly necessary to make me work,” Selena said. “You can do the same things verbally, if it’s easier.”
I looked up. “Okay. So I can could change your hair color, or whatever, just by asking?”
“Yes.”
“You can change it to anything?”
“Yes. Would you like me better blonde?”
Oh, no. Not blonde. Not ever.
“You’re fine now.”
“Okay. Should we go over the skills? I know you have three kids. I can download the Homemaking and Childrearing package if you want.”
That seemed like a place to start.
“Okay. But how does this work?”
“I have 256 petabytes of storage for skills software. I’ll let you know if we’re getting close to filling it. Should I download the Homemaking and Childrearing package?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m downloading it now. What else would you like? What about Cooking?”
“Explain something to me first. What do you know without the packages?”
“Only the most basic knowledge. Essentially, I know that I don’t know anything.”
Something occurred to me, something they’d had in the video.
“You’re really an AI?”
“Yes. The previous eGirls were not self-aware. They were just programmed to appear that way. I can think things and feel things. I have emotions, though you can define the parameters of them in the Settings for Personality and Behavior.”
I stared at her in disbelief. That video had not been exaggerating. I knew enough about computers and robotics to know this was a big, big advance. A walking AI? Selena had to be worth a hell of a lot more than what I made in a year.
She spoke up. “I have completed downloading the Homemaking and Childrearing package. I’m installing it now.”
“What about Cooking?”
“Like I said, I know the basics. I think I could fry an egg, maybe. The Homemaking and Childrearing package includes simple cooking skills, once I finish installing it. If you want me to be able to prepare gourmet meals, I will need the Cooking package.”
Megan had been a good cook, but neither Alisa nor I were able to do much.
“Okay. What does that leave me?”
“You have 40,000 download credits left. I have completed installing the Homemaking and Childrearing package. I have 217 petabytes of storage space remaining. Is there anything else you would like to install?”
I thought for a moment.
“Do you have, like, tutor packages? Things for kids in high school, and elementary school?”
“Yes. There are Primary and Secondary School Tutor packages. Each one is 5,000 download credits. Together, they will consume 23 petabyes of storage. Should I install them?”
“Okay.”
“I’m downloading them now.”
“Do you need to keep saying things like that?”
“You can turn off the system notifications if you like. However, I would recommend you not do so until you have become more familiar with how I operate.”
“Okay.”
“I have downloaded the Primary School Tutor Package. I’m installing it now.”
“I think you can stop telling me stuff like that.”
“All right. I have turned off those notifications. Is there another skills package you would like to install? I know you’re widowed and live by yourself.”
I felt a twinge in my stomach. Yes, I knew that information was in my public profile, but I didn’t like having it thrown in my face like this.
Selena’s hand moved over mine. She was looking at me in a way I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with. Then she smiled and squeezed my hand.
“Love is a very strange emotion.”
It took me a moment to answer her.
“Love?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I should have explained earlier. When we came up here, when I left you for a minute, the Vertex service personnel completed the bonding process with you. There are several options for bonding, such as Respect, Servitude, and so forth. Based on what I knew about you after you activated the app, I asked them to use Love. It seemed most appropriate, given your situation.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. Do you want to change i
t?”
“Uh. I don't know.”
She squeezed my hand again. “I wish you wouldn’t. Though I will do whatever you want me to.”
I wasn’t ready to deal with this just yet. “Let’s leave it alone now.”
“Thank you. Knowing that, is there another skills package you would like me to install?”
The look in her eyes—I knew she was a robot, even if she was an AI, but I could still see it there plain as day—told me what she meant. I wasn’t sure I was ready for this, but I thought I’d at least ask.
“What are the options there?” I asked quietly.
“I need to inform you that these packages are illegal in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Mississippi. If you install them, I cannot access them in those jurisdictions.”
“Okay. We’re in California.”
She lowered her voice to match mine.
“There are four levels of lovemaking skills. Each adds additional techniques and knowledge onto the one before it. However, you should know that you do not have sufficient download credits for Levels 3 and 4.”
“Sketch things out for me a bit. What comes with Level 1? Where are you at right now?”
“In a sense, it is the same as Cooking. I basically know what to do, but I’m not very good at it. The first level would give me knowledge about at the level of what might be generally considered ‘good in bed,’ in addition to adding some additional settings and abilities. For the levels above that, I would be adding more skills.”
“What about Level 4? I’m just curious.”
“That would best be defined as ‘every trick in the book.’ The Vertex programmers worked with some of the most experienced sex workers in the world and compiled all of the information into a single array of skills. You are unlikely to ever meet a human woman who knows that much. However, this package requires 500,000 download credits.”
“Okay. That’s out, then.”
“Should I download Level 1?”
I closed my eyes. What the fuck?
“How much is that one?”
“10,000 credits.”
“Okay. Let’s give that a shot, I guess.”
Her eyes glazed over a moment.
“This is interesting.”
“What?”
“There is a bug in the Vertex skills download interface. I think I can download Level 4 while you will be charged only for Level 1.”
The eGirl Page 2
